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Indonesia
timelines.]] Indonesia, called Dutch East Indies before the late 1940s, is a republic in Southeast Asia and Oceania, comprising 17,508 islands located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It includes about half of New Guinea (Earth's second largest island), more than half of Borneo (the fourth largest island), and all of Sumatra (the 6th largest island). The capital is Jakarta on the island of Java, the population center of the country. Bali, a fairly small island, is nevertheless an important cultural center. With a population of around 230 million people, Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country, and has the world's largest population of Muslims. Within Borneo, Indonesia has a land border with Malaysia, and within New Guinea it has a land border with Papua New Guinea. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Most Harry Turtledove timelines are set or have a point of divergence before 1949, so Indonesia is under Dutch or Japanese rule. Indonesia in Days of Infamy The Dutch East Indies fell to the Empire of Japan during World War II when Japan invaded much of East Asia and the Pacific including the East Indies (the Netherlands had already been conquered by Nazi Germany). Representatives from the collaborationist puppet government established in the East Indies were present during a crowning ceremony in Hawaii of King Stanley Owana Laanui after Japan conquered the Islands following the Battle of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Indonesia in In the Presence of Mine Enemies The Dutch East Indies were conquered by the Empire of Japan during World War II, and remained part of the Empire into the 21st Century. Indonesia in Joe Steele After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Dutch East Indies were invaded by the Japanese. Indonesia in "Les Mortes d'Arthur" During the 2104 Olympics, an American woman defected to Indonesia during the Games, and won a silver medal under their colors.See, e.g. Departures, pg. 285, mmp. Indonesia in Southern Victory During the interwar period, the Empire of Japan "persuaded" the Netherlands to hand over the Dutch East Indies to them for a large sum of compensation with an underlying threat of force.Return Engagement, pg. 219, HC. The Japanese had done the same to the French Empire (which had been defeated and weakened during the Great War) by forcing them to hand over Indochina. Indonesia in Supervolcano Indonesia was the site of two of history's most powerful volcanic explosions: Tambora, leading to the Year Without a Summer, and Krakatoa, both in the 19th century. These cataclysms were dwarfed by previous Yellowstone Supervolcano eruptions in prehistory, throwing up seven and forty times as much ash and lava in comparison.Eruption, pg. 14, HC. However, previous Yellowstone eruptions were not as forceful as Indonesia's Mount Toba, which obliterated itself, and nearly caused the extinction of the human species, around 70,000 BC.Ibid. pg. 16. Indonesia in ''The Two Georges'' The Dutch East Indies made up the bulk of Holland's overseas empire. Literary comment This version is smaller than in OTL, as New Guinea is wholly part of British Australia in this timeline.Map The Two Georges, frontispiece. Indonesia in The War That Came Early Japan launched an attack and an invasion upon Indonesia on 12 January 1941, concurrently with an invasion of British Malaya and attacks upon American holdings Manila and Hawaii.The Big Switch, pg. 398. By the end of 1941, the Dutch East Indies was falling, the Japanese having conquered a large number of the islands, from Borneo in the north to Lesser Sunda Islands in the south. Many believed it couldn't be held and would only be a matter of time before all the islands fell. Indonesia in Worldwar Indonesia was ruled by the Dutch East India Company until the Netherlands were conquered by Germany in 1940 during World War II. Japan conquered Indonesia proper, and was able to hold it when the Race invaded Earth in 1942. It remained part of Japan's empire after the Peace of Cairo.See, Colonization map. Notes Category:Islands of the Indian Ocean Category:Islands of the Pacific Category:Countries in Asia Category:Countries in Oceania Category:Dutch Empire Category:Japanese Empire (OTL) Category:Japanese Empire (Alternate Timeline) Category:Days of Infamy Category:Joe Steele Category:Les Mortes d'Arthur Category:Southern Victory Category:Supervolcano Category:The Two Georges Category:The War That Came Early Category:Worldwar